*image by Ben Harubin

 

Now some Royal News:
If you must "be announced" when you enter court,
you ain't much of a king!

One man had a voice inside him which talked to him...but the only evidence
he had that there was a voice inside him was that -- it talked to him.
(Would that be accepted as evidence in most jurisdictions?)

From one verbal view, all that "awakening," "liberation," "enlightenment,"
and the like amount to is a "change-of-mind," but take note, no change of
mind is ever possible without first seeing the mind for what it is -- not
what you've always taken it to be, not what experts propose it to be, and
not even what the mind itself thinks it to be.

No, it requires a totally unknown understanding of just what the mind is,
and only then can there be what we're presently referring to as a "change-
of-mind." (A term which, I might note, once you've personally undergone the
experience, you realize is not precise. From your view then it would be
better described as "putting your mind to more efficient and pleasurable use.")

While in bed one night, a voice suddenly spoke to a mystic,
"You may not recognize who I am, but I am the primary force
that stands between you and your illustrious goal; you should
truly dread me, for I am a foe that few ever overcome."

And the mystic rose up in bed and said, "Oh, I know quite well who you are,
and every day does my appreciation of your power increase."
"You are habit! -- habit at the outset, habit at the end, and habit in between.
Nothing more than habit have I called thee, and though from one view
this term does not adequately cover the effect you have on my inner life,
what else to call thee? What fancier description would change the reality
of the situation?"

"Yes, I know who you are, first hand, and in-my-face, and down near the
bottom of all this is the habit I have of taking what is in my mind as being
me. And all of this occurring without me having a continuing awareness of
what possible 'me's' there might be, other than the one I tend to accept
from habit."

And with that the mystic fell silent.
But within seconds a voice again spoke in the dark, "If a shadow knows that
it is nothing but a shadow, and a reflection always remembers itself to be a
reflection, than a man's restless sleep would be properly disturbed; it
would become indistinguishable from awakening."
Then that inner room became silent again, and with no further interruptions.

Case: There was once a man whose hand stuck to an object.
Question: Should he try to free it, or learn to live with it?

(And would it affect your answer if I told you that there is no scientific
knowledge as to the nature of the adhesive involved? Or if I told you that
there is a possibility that the glutinous agent involved is imaginary...Hmmm?)